After her stellar performance of Ravi Shankar’s Sitar Concerto No. 3 with Pacific Symphony last night, Anoushka Shankar played an encore of her own composition called “Monsoon.” Here it is.
Anoushka’s encore
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Tag Archives: sitar
Ravi Shankar: Sitar Concerto No. 2
Here’s an excerpt from Ravi Shankar’s Sitar Concerto No. 2, with Anoushka Shankar as soloist and Zubin Mehta conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.
Anoushka Shankar plays her father’s Sitar Concerto No. 3 with Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony on April 12-14.
Audio: Ravi Shankar
People of a certain age, including your scribe, remember when virtuoso sitarist Ravi Shankar became famous in the 1960s, celebrated especially among the young. It seemed to me that most households had, along with the records of Herb Alpert, some Ravi Shankar in their collection.
Here’s Nicolas Slonimsky on Shankar:
“As a consequence of the growing infatuation with Oriental arts in Western countries, he suddenly became popular, and his concerts were greeted with reverential awe by youthful multitudes. This popularity increased a thousandfold when the Beatles went to him to receive the revelation of Eastern musical wisdom, thus placing him on the pedestal usually reserved for untutored guitar strummers.”
The album above was released in 1968. You’ll hear Shankar discussing and demonstrating some of the elements of Indian music and also performing pieces. I have to admit, it remains compelling after all these years.
Pacific Symphony plays music by Shankar and Philip Glass (a disciple), including Shankar’s Sitar Concerto No. 3, April 12-14.
Here’s a short clip of Shankar teaching George Harrison how to play the sitar:
